Patriots Journal: Pats must once again prepare for the unknown

FOXBORO — After fighting past one rookie quarterback, it’s time for the Patriots to deal with another.The Pats did just enough to find a way to squeeze past Buffalo’s EJ Manuel on Sunday and now they’ll...

FOXBORO — After fighting past one rookie quarterback, it’s time for the Patriots to deal with another.

The Pats did just enough to find a way to squeeze past Buffalo’s EJ Manuel on Sunday and now they’ll face the Jets’ Geno Smith on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. Smith is coming off a win in his debut as the Jets rallied in the final seconds to edge Tampa Bay, 18-17. He says tasting victory in his debut can only help entering Week Two.

“It’s great to get a win for the Jets,” said Smith. “Obviously we didn’t want it to come down to dramatic fashion but both teams played a hard, physical game and it came down to the last couple of drives, which it usually does in this league.”

The Jets were counting their blessings on Monday with the realization that unforgivable late-game miscues by Tampa Bay gave them the chance to sneak out their victory. Down, 17-15, after a Buccaneers field goal with 34 seconds left, Smith completed a 25-yard pass to Kellen Winslow Jr. With time ticking, the quarterback scrambled down the sideline and, as he was running out of bounds, he was inexplicably hit by Tampa’s Lavonte David. The officials whistled for a personal foul on the tackle, giving the Jets 15 more yards and moving the ball to the Tampa Bay 30-yard line. With two seconds left on the clock, Nick Folk booted a 48-yard field goal (his third of the game) to give the Jets a win.

“We’ve gone over these scenarios a lot in practice and in camp a million times,” Smith said, “and when you get the chance you have to be able to step up and take advantage of the moment. We did that and we’re pleased with it but now it’s time to move on.”

Smith is more of a duel-threat QB than the Bills’ Manuel. For one, he has a better arm. He finished 24 of 38 for 256 yards and one TD and one interception. He was also sacked five times. But when he had to run, he did that well as he led the team with 47 yards on six carries (7.8 avg.). Florida State’s Manuel was the only quarterback taken in the first round of the 2013 draft but Smith (West Virginia) was the second, with the 39th pick overall. He says he’s already seen plenty of film of the Patriots to know he’s in for a major challenge in his first taste of the Pats-Jets rivalry.

“I’ve watched them a bunch,” said Smith. “They are an extremely, extremely physical defense up front and in the back end. They are extremely smart. They know how to read routes and a lot of times they’re playing zone and passing things off and are constantly in good position. They force a lot of turnovers and I think that’s going to be important for us, just managing those situations and not turning the ball over and executing when we have the opportunity.”

How do you like us now?

After their win, Jets linebacker Calvin Pace couldn’t wait to mock an ESPN ranking of the NFL’s teams that pegged the Jets dead last heading into the opening week of the season.

“Thirty-second in the league? I know the last couple of years haven’t been up to our standard. We might not be the best team, but I’m damn sure we’re not the worst,” he said. “I’ve seen the worst. We’ve played against some of the worst, and we’re not that. There’s a team out west (likely the Raiders) that I know is worse than we are.”

Injury report

Both teams released injury reports off what was a light walk-through practice in both cities. For the Pats, Shane Vereen is out with a broken wrist and did not practice. Among a long list of players who had limited participation in practice were Danny Amendola (groin), Rob Gronkowski (back), Brandon Bolden (knee), Zach Sudfeld (hamstring), Aaron Dobson (hamstring) and Leon Washington (thigh).

Pats coach Bill Belichick said early in the day on Monday that he’s still expecting some roster shuffling this week. If both Bolden and Gronkowski can’t play against the Jets, look for the Pats to sign a stop-gap player at running back and/or tight end on Tuesday to firm up some thin spots on the roster.

Their work is cut out

The Gillette Stadium staff is under the gun this week. The stadium hosted a UMass football game on Saturday (a 24-14 Maine win, by the way) and then workers began building a grass field over the FieldTurf that soccer is played on in advance of Tuesday’s international friendly match between FIFA Confederations Cup champion Brazil and Portugal, the world’s sixth-ranked team. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. and will feature two of the top three players in the world in Brazil’s Neymar and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

All international soccer matches are contested on grass when available. Right after the match concludes, workers will spring back into action and roll up the grass and prepare for Thursday’s NFL game.